Texas A&M
Oklahoma
Aggies Down Oklahoma in Five Sets
Sep 21, 2008 | Volleyball
Sept. 21, 2008
COLLEGE STATION, Texas - Mary Batis had a career-high 22 kills and Jennifer Banse and Kelsey Black posted career-high digs with 24 and 22, respectively, to lift Texas A&M to a 26-28, 25-23, 23-25, 25-21, 15-8 victory over Oklahoma in front of 1,915 today at G. Rollie White Coliseum.
The victory ended a three-match losing skid by A&M as the Aggies improved to 6-6 overall and 1-1 in league play. The win also kept the Aggies undefeated at home (5-0) and snapped a four-match losing streak against the Sooners.
Oklahoma, which entered the match riding a five-match winning streak and undefeated in Big 12 play, falls to 6-5 overall and 2-1 in league matches.
"The key word for today was resilience," A&M coach Laurie Corbelli said. "We just really did realize how much of it we have, and we used it today. That was really important."
A&M, which was haunted last year after letting a 2-0 set lead slip away against the Sooners, got off to an ominous start in today's match. Leading 24-22 in the opening set, the Aggies were unable to finish off the Sooners, who ran off three straight points to take their first lead since 11-10. Batis put down a kill to tie the score at 25-25, but Sooner setter Brianne Barker got a kill on a dump play to put Oklahoma at set point for the second time. Batis answered again with her sixth kill of the set to tie the score for the 13th time, but A&M then committed its sixth service error of the match to put OU up, 27-26. Suzy Boulavsky then closed out the set for the Sooners with a kill.
A&M then spotted the Sooners a 4-0 lead to start the second set, and things did not look good for the Aggies after Oklahoma went on to build a 17-11 lead. A&M quickly came alive, going on a 9-1 run to take its first lead of the set. Up 20-19, A&M reeled off three straight points to build its biggest lead at 23-19. An A&M service error and an attack error cut the Aggies' lead to 23-21 before Darla Donaldson put A&M at set point with a kill. A&M struggled again to finish off the set, committing a service error and an attack error to put Oklahoma within 24-23. Banse then clinched the set for the Aggies with a solo block.
"That was a really critical point in the match," Corbelli said. "We were down, a five or six point difference. Tonight they didn't worry about it. They just kept scratching away at the lead and started to just make the plays that they needed to make. I think a lot of our experience showed in that game. They kept calm. (Kristen Schevikhoven) knew who was hot and who to go to. I thought our passing stayed really consistent as well. Our passing was a little bit off early, and we also missed two serves early in the game that kind of takes the wind out of your sails.
Batis, who entered the match needing 12 points to reach 1,000 for her career, had seven points in the set to surpass the milestone.
There was never more than a three-point lead in the third set as the teams had six lead changes and were tied 14 times. A&M took its final lead at 20-19 after Ammerman had a kill and Donaldson got a solo block. The teams exchanged sideouts, and with A&M leading 22-21, the Sooners got back-to-back kills to regain the lead. Batis tied the score at 23-all with a kill, but Boulavsky had a kill and Barker and Francie Ekwerekwu teamed for a block to win the set for the Sooners.
A&M used a four-point run to take its first lead of the fourth set at 7-6. Oklahoma tied the score at 7-7 and 8-8, but never regained the lead. The Aggies later went on a 7-2 run to build their biggest lead at 24-16. The Sooners, however, made a last-ditch run, scoring five unanswered points - three on A&M errors - to get within 24-21. Ammerman then clinched the win and forced a fifth set with her fourth kill of the set.
There were eight ties and five lead changes in the decisive fifth set before A&M ran away with the win. The Sooners held an 8-7 lead when the teams switched courts, but it was all A&M after the changeover as the Aggies did not allow Oklahoma to score another point in the match. A&M hit .476 in the set with 11 kills and only one error, while Oklahoma was held to a .040 hitting efficiency with four kills and three errors in 25 swings.
"It was one comeback that I will remember for a long time," Corbelli said about the match. "We started in a new rotation in Game 1 and really believed in it. We made a few changes here and there, and we went with it. When we decided to go back to our normal lineup, we got into a better rhythm and the confidence continued to grow from there. The execution was really, really nice to watch for the most part. When we did have a few set backs, the composure was really a much improved group in terms of our composure on the court."
Batis had 13 digs to finish with a double-double. Ammerman had 18 kills and 14 digs to also record a double-double, as did Schevikhoven, who posted a season-high 55 assists and 11 digs. Donaldson finished with a career-high 12 kills and led the Aggies with five blocks.
Bridget Laplante led the Sooners with 14 kills, and Caitlin Higgins and Francie Ekwerekwu had 12 kills apiece. Barker and Higgins tied for team-high honors in digs with 19 apiece.
A&M, which finished with a season-high 15 service errors, outhit the Sooners, .258 to .175, for the match, posting 70 kills to Oklahoma's 57.
The Aggies return to the court Wednesday as they play host to No. 18 Kansas State. First serve is at 6:30 p.m. at G. Rollie White Coliseum.
